Fashion Show...

Sometimes I wonder about the personal tastes of my children when it comes to fashion.  I mean, do each of them really expect me to authorize them to wear their mismatched outfits out of the house?!?  "No," I say, "brown and white pants do NOT match with your yellow, black, and white checked shirt."  And, "Why in the world would you think that you should go without a jacket when it is 30 degrees outside, simply because the jacket is navy blue and the skinny jeans are gray?  Seriously?  You're kidding, right?"  At times like these, they frown and shuffle off to find the lone white shirt that matches with everything and the blue skinny jeans instead of the gray ones, completely unaware and unappreciative of the fact that their mother has just done them a great service...

We all have our favorite designers or trends that we follow.  But even when we think our fashion sense is well-informed and well-practiced, fashion issues can arise.  Maybe our favorite designer goes off the deep end, and covers every design in human hair, or starts spouting off antisemitic rhetoric, say.  Maybe the latest trend doesn't account for all circumstances; and wardrobe malfunctions--a broken heel or poor alteration, for instance--become the bane of our existence.  We all have worn two different shoes to the big meeting, or managed to spill soup on our ties before the PR photos.


People are sometimes the same way when it comes to spirituality.  Some people arrive at the fashion show, ready to walk the runway of life with the perfectly matched ensemble of faith and action.  Their Christian morals and values and character pervade their every action and interaction.  And when they pray, they shout it; when they are filled with the spirit, they sing it.  But some people arrive at the fashion show completely unprepared and disheveled, their actions opposite to their professed faith.  These people usually fall into one of two groups:  the delayed or the hypocritical.  The delayed are making an effort to clarify their Christian beliefs within themselves, but haven't quite managed to find a balance; so they run late to the show.  The hypocritical think it is enough to say they are Christians, even if their actions do not bear that out in public; so their outfits never fit quite right.  We all, I would wager, have had moments when we were unprepared or disheveled in our faith...


No fashion show is ever perfect--some people on the runway may be completely in their element; but others are wearing shoes that are one or more sizes too small; and others still are hiding last minute safety pins behind clumsy flowers.  Remember that, similarly, in life there will be trials and temptations, doubts and worries, ups and downs.  But if we make an honest effort to match our actions to our faith, with God's help we will reach a level of excellence that allows our Christian morals and values and character to shine forth as a light to those who are in the dark.  If we keep working towards excellence, and leave the perfection up to God, we will make it down the runway with grace; and this fashion show will go off without a hitch.